NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Taylorsville, NC
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
18 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Taylorsville, North Carolina since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Zeta in 2020. Since 1950, 56 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 2 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 17
- Tornadoes
- 56
- EF3 or stronger
- 2
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
6 deaths in all
What the records show for Taylorsville
The strongest storm to pass near Taylorsville was an unnamed storm in 1893, a Category 1 hurricane with 74 mph winds when its centre passed 52 miles away. The record near Taylorsville begins with an unnamed storm in 1859; the most recent system was Zeta in 2020, a tropical storm 30 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1880s, with 3 systems. Of the 18 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Of the 475 North Carolina cities on this site, 65% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Taylorsville. The highest rating among the 56 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on May 7, 1998, came within 7 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 5, 1989, killed 4 people. Of the 56, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 27 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 14. The most recent tornado was on April 11, 2024. Of the 475 North Carolina cities, 53% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Taylorsville. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 69 times since 1974, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Taylorsville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 54% of the 475 North Carolina cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Taylorsville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ZetaOct 29 | 30 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2018 | MichaelOct 11 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (66 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1985 | BobJul 25 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (43 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1979 | DavidSep 5 | 53 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1959 | GracieSep 30 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1952 | AbleAug 31 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1949 | Unnamed 1949 stormAug 28 | 7 mi | Tropical storm (58 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1927 | Unnamed 1927 stormOct 3 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 3 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1907 | Unnamed 1907 stormSep 23 | 8 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormOct 11 | 1 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1893 | Unnamed 1893 stormAug 28 | 52 mi | Category 1 (74 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1889 | Unnamed 1889 stormSep 24 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (48 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormJun 22 | 46 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1882 | Unnamed 1882 stormSep 11 | 48 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1878 | Unnamed 1878 stormSep 12 | 74 mi | Tropical storm (61 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1859 | Unnamed 1859 stormSep 17 | 55 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Taylorsville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Taylorsville
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s16
- 2000s2
- 1990s12(1 EF3+)
- 1980s4(1 EF3+)
- 1970s9
- 1950s4
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 1989 | F4 | 20 mi | 14 mi | 4 / 52 |
| May 7, 1998 | F4 | 7 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 2 |
| May 26, 2022 | EF2 | 15 mi | 5.97 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Oct 23, 2017 | EF2 | 11 mi | 4.87 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2012 | EF2 | 19 mi | 4.15 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Oct 26, 2010 | EF2 | 14 mi | 2.53 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jul 7, 2005 | F2 | 5 mi | 4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 16, 1994 | F2 | 14 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 5, 1989 | F2 | 14 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 4, 1974 | F2 | 14 mi | 5.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 18, 1954 | F2 | 13 mi | 5.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 9, 1951 | F2 | 13 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 56, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Taylorsville
The Storm Prediction Center has 69 hail reports within 10 miles of Taylorsville since 1974, made on 55 separate days. Of these, 33 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on June 5, 1993. The most recent report is from April 6, 2023. May has the most reports, 22.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Taylorsville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Taylorsville, NC, 2 miles east of Taylorsville at 1,320 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 29°F. August is the wettest at 5.4 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 52.8 inches over 79 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 51% of the year's precipitation (26.9 of 52.8 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 18 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (8); a normal September there has highs of 80°F and 4.5 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 29 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 67 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.8 inches a year, most of it in January. That 52.8 inches is more than at 93 of the 140 North Carolina stations used on this site (66%). Moravian Falls, 11 miles north, has its own station (W Kerr Scott Resv, NC): 52.6 inches a year, 0.2 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 87°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 29 | 4.4 | 6 | 1.7 |
| Feb | 53 | 32 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.4 |
| Mar | 60 | 39 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.2 |
| Apr | 70 | 46 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 77 | 54 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 84 | 63 | 5.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 87 | 66 | 4.3 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 86 | 66 | 5.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 80 | 59 | 4.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 70 | 48 | 3.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 60 | 38 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 51 | 32 | 4.3 | 7 | 1.5 |
| Year | 69 | 48 | 52.8 | 79 | 3.8 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Taylorsville, NC (1,320 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Taylorsville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 141 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Taylorsville: 117 thunderstorm wind reports, 17 flash floods, 4 lightning strikes and 3 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $3.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 86 mph, on April 4, 2011. Of the 472 North Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 247 have had fewer than Taylorsville.
July 15, 2023: flash flood 8 miles from the centre of Taylorsville — 1 killed, 1 injured, $10,000 damage.
NWS: “Fire dept reported flash flooding developed along Duck Creek after 4 to 6 inches of rain fell in just a few hours along the Caldwell/Alexander County line. Two individuals were swept down the creek when they fled their vehicle after driving into flood water at Duck Creek Dr and Dover Church Rd.”
June 20, 1997: thunderstorm wind 9 miles from the centre of Taylorsville — 2 injured, $50,000 damage.
July 12, 2025: lightning strike in Taylorsville — 1 injured.
NWS: “Emergency manager reported a 50-year-old male was hospitalized after being struck by lightning at a golf course just west of Taylorsville.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Alexander County, which includes Taylorsville, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 9 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 hurricanes, 3 snowstorms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene, on September 28, 2024. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Alexander County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, inland flooding and lightning; Very Low for heat waves. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $10.6 million a year, the 81st highest of 100 North Carolina counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $6.6 million (63%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Taylorsville
- Hiddenite, NC8 mi
- Stony Point, NC10 mi
- Moravian Falls, NC11 mi
- Conover, NC13 mi
- Claremont, NC14 mi
- Hickory, NC14 mi
- Granite Falls, NC15 mi
- Wilkesboro, NC16 mi
- Hudson, NC16 mi
- Catawba, NC17 mi
- Newton, NC18 mi
- North Wilkesboro, NC18 mi
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